'I Am Woman' singer and feminist icon, Helen Reddy dead at 78

Helen Reddy, the Australian singer behind feminist anthem ‘I Am Woman’ is dead at the age of 78.

She died in Los Angeles on Tuesday September 29 as confirmed in a statement released by her family on Facebook. Her family wrote;

″It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Helen Reddy, on the afternoon of September 29th 2020 in Los Angeles. She was a wonderful Mother, Grandmother and a truly formidable woman. Our hearts are broken. But we take comfort in the knowledge that her voice will live on forever.″

Australian-born Reddy was regarded as a queen of 1970s pop, reigning as the world’s top-selling female singer in 1973 and 1974. Reddy’s biggest hit, 1971’s ″I Am Woman” catapulted her to new heights as a feminist icon, and the song became the unofficial anthem of the women’s movement, still often played and quoted from at women’s marches today.

The singer said she had wrote the lyrics with lines such as “I am woman, hear me roar” and “I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman” after struggling to find other songs which reflected her pride in being a woman.

Reddy won a Grammy for the song, and famously caused a stir by thanking God ″because she makes everything possible.″

Diagnosed with dementia in 2015, Reddy spent the last years of her life in a celebrity care home in Los Angeles.